Video is king. Video at VidCon may seem like a no-brainer, but with two days filled with sessions about different use cases, formats, and platforms all surrounding video, it becomes clear that video has infiltrated nearly all aspects of marketing. From long-form to short-form and professionally produced to user-generated, brands are leveraging video across platforms to reach audiences with their message in a way that consumers have shown they prefer to view content.

One size does not fit all. While video is seemingly everywhere, brands aren’t just creating one video and posting it with the hope that it works across channels, platforms, and audiences. Different video lengths and formats do in fact perform better across various platforms. For example, according to Twitter’s Global Head of Content Creation, Stacy Minero, short-form video generally performs better on their platform. When it comes to leveraging video across the traditional sales funnel, Travis Chambers, Chief Media Hacker at Chamber.Media, says longer, more explanatory videos perform better at the top of the funnel, while shorter, more personal or specific videos tend to do better lower in the funnel.

Don’t overthink it. So, if different channels and audiences require different video formats and themes, exactly how much video content should you be creating? Probably less than you think. Chambers also laid out the process for starting with what he calls an Anchor Video – about 4 minutes of highly-produced content to tell your brand’s story – and cutting it into pieces usable for multiple scenarios. While you may not be able to find every shorter video you need in one Anchor Video, it’s not necessary to start from scratch every time. Keep your use cases in mind while concepting, and you’ll be able to make your videos go farther.

Test everything. You should be A/B testing every aspect of your advertising. We all like to think that our gut instinct is right about how an ad will perform, but you never really know how an audience is going to respond to a piece of creative, a thumbnail, or a headline until you test it and see the results. These tests should range from as informal as asking a data expert on your team how they feel about a couple of ad copy options to leveraging the testing capabilities of digital ad platforms like Facebook. Get out of your own head – and the heads of the other writers and creatives on your team – and find out how a real audience is connecting with your ads.